Training Day

Joyce Roberts photos HOLDEN — In the spacious basement at 165 Flagler Drive, a perfect world exists in miniature.

It’s a railroad community called Middleport and it’s the creation of James Deignan, a model railroad enthusiast.

Middleport is a busy place, located somewhere on the eastern seaboard, its 660 square feet ringed with hills that are bisected by railroad tunnels, a working waterfront, houses, mills, restaurants, gas stations and a radio station.

It’s a hand–crafted, finely detailed world that will be open for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 5 when many model railroaders in the region will be opening up their homes to the public to share their hobby.

Deignan’s layout is known as a Pennsy Middle Division, meaning it’s based on the prototypes and scenery that would typically surround the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Deignan, who had Lionel trains as a kid, bought the first section of his Pennsy layout on Ebay. It was old and beat-up, but he planned to restore it as a first step in resurrecting an old hobby of HO model scaling.

His plans were derailed in 2003, when he had a motorcycle accident that left him in a wheelchair, with very limited arm movement.

After his accident, Deignan said he retired from work and was left with a lot of time on his hands. He decided to take another shot at the renovation he had planned for his return model railroad, this time with some modifications: The set-up had to accommodate his view and access from a wheelchair and he enlisted helpers to handle some tasks that he no longer had the dexterity for.

Despite the fine details such as seated passengers visible through the lighted windows of his railway cars, Deignan admits he is not the train fanatic that some model railroad hobbyists are.

“I like the craftsmanship of it,” he said. “I’m not someone who is extremely interested in any particular type of train. They’re really just a background to the buildings.”

Deignan is a fan of “scratch building,” designing and creating the buildings from raw materials, rather than from kits. In the world of model railroad hobbyists, Deignan has become known for this specialty and his layouts and advice have been featured in “Model Railroader,” on DVD’s and Youtube videos.

Deignan said his work process is a little different than most.

“A lot of people would create a track plan first, but I’m most interested in the architecture of the town,” Deignan said. “I build a building then try to figure out, where are we going to put this one?”

Deignan figures he has at least 80 buildings in his layout, with each one requiring about 60-70 hours of work. It’s a lot of detail packed into one area.

Deignan gets a lot of support for his hobby from his wife, Jacynta and two kids, Reaghan, 6, and Liam, 4. Jacynta painted the backdrop behind the hills of Middleport, giving the illusion that the landscape goes on forever.

Any one with a sharp eye will detect some notes in the layout that are distinctly Holden – a radio tower, a tiny colonial era cemetery, a gas station that was modeled on an old picture of the one across from Goodhile’s at the corner of Route 31 and Manning Street.

Deignan, who serves on the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, said he has no particular plan in mind for his town. Houses, businesses and industries can be situated side by side.

As he changes things around or adds a new street, he said that maybe he should have some zoning rules.

Model railroad enthusiast James Deignan created a miniature village that will be on display to the public Saturday, April 5.
Joyce Roberts photos “There are a lot of things here that wouldn’t pass muster,” he said with a smile.